Pasadena man charged after alleged assaults at local shops, restaurant

Pasadena police arrested Jalen Richard Harrison, 25, after investigators said he assaulted multiple women in separate incidents at a Southmore Avenue discount store and a nearby restaurant before a third complaint led detectives to link him to the earlier allegations.

Police said Harrison was charged with two counts of indecent assault and was being held at the Harris County Joint Processing Center. The alleged incidents unfolded on Monday, June 15, and Tuesday, June 16, and investigators said the third report on Tuesday led directly to his arrest.

The first reported assault happened at DD’s Discounts on Southmore Avenue, where police said Harrison approached a woman who was shopping and grabbed her from behind without her consent. Detectives later said he went to Wok Delight, a nearby restaurant, and committed a similar act against a female employee. After the Tuesday incident, investigators identified Harrison as the suspect in the earlier Southmore Avenue episodes.

The case is drawing attention because the alleged conduct took place in ordinary public settings where people work, shop and move through the neighborhood every day. Pasadena police said the repeated nature of the allegations across multiple locations helped connect the complaints quickly once the third incident was reported.

Texas law treats indecent assault as a Class A misdemeanor, and the offense was created by the Texas Legislature in 2019 under Texas Penal Code Section 22.012. The statute covers non-consensual touching and related conduct done with intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire. Texas sex-offender-registration law also includes indecent assault among offenses that can trigger registration requirements after a conviction.

ABC13 Houston said it found only one other Harris County case like this in the previous two years, underscoring how rarely the charge has surfaced locally. That rarity comes against a difficult backdrop for sex-crime prosecutions in Harris County: ABC13 reported in November 2025 that only 60 of more than 2,200 sexual assaults reported to the county’s largest law-enforcement agencies over nearly two years resulted in convictions.

Pasadena police moved quickly to share details of the arrest through the department’s media relations office, which serves as its public clearinghouse for news releases and safety announcements. For residents and workers on Southmore Avenue, the case centers on a short, concentrated pattern of alleged contact offenses in spaces meant to feel routine and open.